- Demographics of Greece
-
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Greece, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Demographics of the Hellenic Republic 
Population: 11,329,618[1] (2011 est.) Growth rate: 0.146% (2008 est.) Birth rate: 9.45 births/1,000 population (2010 est.) Death rate: 10.51 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.) Life expectancy: 79.66 years –male: 77.11 years –female: 82.37 years (2010 est.) Fertility rate: 1.50 children born/woman (2010 est.)[2] Infant mortality rate: {{{infant_mortality}}} Age structure: 0-14 years: 14.3% 15-64 years: 66.6% 65-over: 19.1% Sex ratio: At birth: 1.06 male(s)/female (2008 est.) Under 15: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.00 male(s)/female 65-over: 0.78 male(s)/female Nationality: Nationality: noun: Greek(s) adjective: Greek Major ethnic: Greeks Minor ethnic: Albanians, Roma, Turks, Bulgarians and Pomaks,[3] Macedonian Slavs, Romanians, Russians, Georgians and Armenians[4] Language: Official: Greek Spoken: Greek, Albanian, Arvanitika, Romani, Bulgarian/Macedonian Slavic, Romanian, Aromanian, Turkish, Russian and Georgian The Demographics of Greece refer to the demography of the population that inhabits the Greek peninsula. As of January 2008, the population of Greece is estimated at 11,262,000 by Eurostat.
Contents
Historical overview
Greece was inhabited as early as the Paleolithic period. Prior to the 2nd millennium BC, the Greek peninsula was inhabited by various pre-Hellenic peoples, the most notable of which were the Pelasgians. The Greek language ultimately dominated the peninsula and Greece's mosaic of small city-states became culturally similar. The population estimates on the Greeks during the 4th century BC, is approximately 3.5 million on the Greek peninsula and 4 to 6.5 million in the rest of the entire Mediterranean Basin,[5] including all colonies such as those in Magna Graecia, Asia Minor and the shores of the Black Sea.
During the history of the Byzantine Empire, the Greek peninsula was occasionally invaded by the foreign peoples like Goths, Avars, Slavs, Normans, Franks and other Romance-speaking peoples who had betrayed the Crusades. The only group, however, that planned to establish permanent settlements in the region were the Slavs. They supposedly settled in isolated valleys of the Peloponnese and Thessaly, establishing segregated communities that were referred by the Byzantines as Sclaveni. Traces of Slavic culture in Greece are very rare and by the 9th century, the Sclaveni in Greece were largely eliminated. However, some Slavic communities managed to survive in rural Macedonia. At the same time a large Sephardi Jewish emigrant community from the Iberian peninsula established itself in Thessaloniki, while there were population movements of Arvanites and Vlachs, who established communities in several parts of the Greek peninsula. The Byzantine Empire ultimately fell to Ottoman Turks in the 15th century and as a result Ottoman colonies were established in the Balkans, notably in Macedonia, the Peloponnese and Crete. Many Greeks either fled to other European nations or to geographically isolated areas (i.e. mountains and heavily forested territories) in order to escape foreign rule. For those reasons, the population decreased in the plains, while increasing on the mountains. The population transfers with Bulgaria and Turkey that took place in the early 20th century, added in total some two million Greeks from to the demography of the Greek Kingdom.
Population
Main article: Demographic history of Greece
Population of Greece from 1961 to 2008.
According to the 2001 census the population of Greece was 10,964,020. Eurostat estimations as of January 2008 gave the number of 11,214,992 inhabitants in the Greek peninsula.
Census Population Change 1971 8,768,372 - 1981 9,739,589 11.1% 1991 10,259,900 5.3% 2001 10,964,020 6.9% 2011 11,329,618 3.3% By region
Greece is divided into nine geographic regions. The population of each region according to the 2001 census:
Region Population Aegean Islands 508,807 Central Greece 4,591,568 Crete 601,131 Epirus 353,820 Ionian Islands 212,984 Macedonia 2,424,765 Peloponnese 1,155,019 Thessaly 753,888 Thrace 362,038 Total 10,964,020 Age structure
Being part of the phenomenon of the aging of Europe, the Greek population shows a rapid increase of the percentage of the elderly people. Greece's population census of 1961 found that 10.9% of the total population was above the age of 65, while the percentage of this group age increased to 16.7% in 2001. On the contrary, the percentage of the population of the ages 0–14 had a total decrease of 10.2% between 1961 and 2001.
Age group 1971 1981 1991 2001 Population % Population % Population % Population % 0–14 2,223,904 25.4 2,307,297 23.7 1,974,867 19.2 1,664,085 15.2 15–64 5,587,352 63.7 6,192,751 63.6 6,880,681 67.1 7,468,395 68.1 65+ 957,116 10.9 1,239,541 12.7 1,404,352 13.7 1,831,540 16.7 Total 8,768,372 9,739,589 10,259,900 10,964,020 Vital statistics [6][7][8]
Average population (x 1000) Live births Deaths Natural change Crude birth rate (per 1000) Crude death rate (per 1000) Natural change (per 1000) 1921 5 050 107 000 69 000 38 000 21.2 13.7 7.5 1922 5 097 110 000 82 000 18 000 21.6 16.1 3.5 1923 6 010 113 926 102 042 11 884 19.0 17.0 2.0 1924 6 000 117 014 93 320 23 694 19.5 15.6 3.9 1925 5 958 156 367 88 633 67 734 26.2 14.9 11.4 1926 6 042 181 278 84 136 97 142 30.0 13.9 16.1 1927 6 127 176 527 100 020 76 507 28.8 16.3 12.5 1928 6 210 189 250 105 665 83 585 30.5 17.0 13.5 1929 6 286 181 870 115 561 66 309 28.9 18.4 10.5 1930 6 367 199 565 103 811 95 754 31.3 16.3 15.0 1931 6 463 199 243 114 369 84 874 30.8 17.7 13.1 1932 6 544 185 523 117 593 67 930 28.4 18.0 10.4 1933 6 625 189 583 111 447 78 136 28.6 16.8 11.8 1934 6 727 208 929 100 651 108 278 31.1 15.0 16.1 1935 6 837 192 511 101 416 91 095 28.2 14.8 13.3 1936 6 936 193 343 105 005 88 338 27.9 15.1 12.7 1937 7 029 183 878 105 674 78 204 26.2 15.0 11.1 1938 7 122 184 509 93 766 90 743 25.9 13.2 12.7 1939 7 222 178 852 100 459 78 393 24.8 13.9 10.9 1940 7 319 179 480 93 830 85 670 24.5 12.8 11.7 1941 7 370 134 760 125 710 9 050 18.3 17.1 1.2 1942 7 350 132 640 191 030 -58 390 18.0 26.0 -7.9 1943 7 280 122 170 111 320 10 850 16.8 15.3 1.5 1944 7 300 145 530 110 810 34 720 19.9 15.2 4.8 1945 7 310 183 470 85 540 97 930 25.1 11.7 13.4 1946 7 430 209 360 73 500 135 860 28.2 9.9 18.3 1947 7 520 206 400 70 340 136 060 27.4 9.4 18.1 1948 7 500 210 000 96 000 114 000 28.0 12.8 15.2 1949 7 480 139 108 59 450 79 658 18.6 7.9 10.6 1950 7 554 151 314 53 755 97 559 20.0 7.1 12.9 1951 7 646 155 422 57 508 97 914 20.3 7.5 12.8 1952 7 733 149 637 53 377 96 260 19.4 6.9 12.4 1953 7 817 143 765 56 680 87 085 18.4 7.3 11.1 1954 7 893 151 892 55 625 96 267 19.2 7.0 12.2 1955 7 966 154 263 54 781 99 482 19.4 6.9 12.5 1956 8 031 156 187 59 460 96 727 19.4 7.4 12.0 1957 8 096 155 192 61 664 93 528 19.2 7.6 11.6 1958 8 173 155 359 58 160 97 199 19.0 7.1 11.9 1959 8 258 160 199 60 852 99 347 19.4 7.4 12.0 1960 8 334 157 239 60 563 96 676 18.9 7.3 11.6 1961 8 398 150 716 63 955 86 761 17.9 7.6 10.3 1962 8 448 152 158 66 554 85 604 18.0 7.9 10.1 1963 8 480 148 249 66 813 81 436 17.5 7.9 9.6 1964 8 510 153 109 69 429 83 680 18.0 8.1 9.8 1965 8 551 151 448 67 269 84 179 17.7 7.8 9.8 1966 8 614 154 613 67 912 86 701 17.9 7.9 10.1 1967 8 686 162 839 71 975 90 864 18.7 8.3 10.4 1968 8 741 160 338 73 309 87 029 18.3 8.4 10.0 1969 8 773 154 077 71 825 82 252 17.6 8.2 9.4 1970 8 793 144 928 74 009 70 919 16.5 8.4 8.1 1971 8 831 141 126 73 819 67 307 16.0 8.4 7.6 1972 8 889 140 891 76 859 64 032 15.9 8.6 7.2 1973 8 929 137 526 77 648 59 878 15.4 8.7 6.7 1974 8 962 144 069 76 303 67 766 16.1 8.5 7.6 1975 9 047 142 273 80 077 62 196 15.7 8.9 6.9 1976 9 167 146 566 81 818 64 748 16.0 8.9 7.1 1977 9 269 143 739 83 750 59 989 15.4 9.0 6.4 1978 9 395 146 588 81 615 64 973 15.5 8.7 6.9 1979 9 534 147 965 82 338 65 627 15.5 8.6 6.9 1980 9 643 148 134 87 282 60 852 15.4 9.1 6.3 1981 9 729 140 953 86 261 54 692 14.5 8.9 5.6 1982 9 790 137 275 86 345 50 930 14.0 8.8 5.2 1983 9 847 132 608 90 586 42 022 13.5 9.2 4.3 1984 9 896 125 724 88 397 37 327 12.7 8.9 3.8 1985 9 934 116 481 92 886 23 595 11.7 9.4 2.4 1986 9 967 112 250 91 469 20 781 11.3 9.2 2.1 1987 10 001 105 899 95 232 10 667 10.6 9.5 1.1 1988 10 037 107 668 93 031 14 637 10.7 9.3 1.5 1989 10 090 101 149 92 717 8 432 10.0 9.2 0.8 1990 10 161 102 229 94 152 8 077 10.1 9.3 0.8 1991 10 257 102 620 95 498 7 122 10.0 9.3 0.7 1992 10 370 104 081 98 231 5 850 10.0 9.5 0.6 1993 10 466 101 799 97 419 4 380 9.7 9.3 0.4 1994 10 553 103 763 97 807 5 956 9.8 9.3 0.6 1995 10 635 101 495 100 158 1 337 9.5 9.4 0.1 1996 10 710 100 718 100 740 - 22 9.4 9.4 -0.0 1997 10 777 102 038 99 738 2 300 9.5 9.3 0.2 1998 10 835 100 894 102 668 -1 774 9.3 9.5 -0.2 1999 10 883 100 643 103 304 -2 661 9.2 9.5 -0.2 2000 10 918 103 267 105 219 -1 952 9.5 9.6 -0.2 2001 10 950 102 282 102 559 - 277 9.3 9.4 -0.0 2002 10 988 103 838 103 915 - 77 9.5 9.5 -0.0 2003 11 024 104 420 105 529 -1 109 9.5 9.6 -0.1 2004 11 062 105 655 104 942 713 9.6 9.5 0.1 2005 11 104 107 545 105 091 2 454 9.7 9.5 0.2 2006 11 148 112 042 105 476 6 566 10.1 9.5 0.6 2007 11 193 111 926 109 895 2 031 10.0 9.8 0.2 2008 11 237 118 302 107 979 10 323 10.5 9.6 0.9 2009 11 278 117 933 108 316 9 617 10.5 9.6 0.9 2010 9.5 10.5 -1.0 Immigration
Main article: Immigration to Greece
Greece has received a large number of immigrants since the early 1990s. The 2001 census revealed that 797,091 foreigners lived permanently in the country[9] and comprised 6.95% of the total population, while their number in 1990 was 142,367.[10] The majority of them come from the neighbouring countries. As of 2006, the number of foreigners in an estimated total of 11,148,533 people[11] was 695,979[12] or 6.24%. The main ethnic groups were[13]:
Ethnic group Population % Greeks 10,452,554 93.76 Albanians 481,663 4.32 Bulgarians 43,981 0.39 Romanians 25,375 0.23 Ukrainians 19,785 0.18 Pakistani 15,830 0.14 Russians 13,635 0.12 Georgians 13,254 0.12 Indians 10,043 0.09 Other 72,413 0.65 Illegal immigration
Greece received many undocumented immigrants during the 2000s. Migrants make use of the many islands in the Aegean Sea, directly west of Turkey. A spokesman for the European Union's border control agency said that the Greek-Albanian border is "one of Europe's worst-affected external land borders." Migrants across the Evros region bordering Turkey face land-mines. Principal illegal immigrants include Albanians, Pakistanis, Kurds, Afghans, Iraqis and Somalis.[14][15]
Languages
Main article: Languages of Greece
Map showing the distribution of major Modern Greek dialect areas
Note: Greek is the dominant language throughout Greece; inclusion in a non-Greek language zone does not necessarily imply that the relevant minority language is still spoken there, or that its speakers consider themselves an ethnic minority.The official language of Greece is Greek, spoken by 93% of the total population as their primary language, and by almost all as a second language at least. Additionally, there are a number of linguistic minority groups that are bilingual in a variety of non-Greek languages, and most of these groups identify ethnically as Greeks. The most common of all these dialects, the groups that speak them and the regions where they are considered native are:[16]
Dialect Spoken by Estimated population Region Greek dialects Cretan Cretans 600,000 Crete Maniot Maniots 25,000 Mani (southern Peloponnese) Pontic Pontians 200,000 Macedonia Sarakatsanika Sarakatsani 80,000 Central Greece, Thessaly, Epirus Tsakonian Tsakonians 1,200 Tsakonia (eastern Peloponnese) Other languages Bulgarian/Macedonian Slavic Slavic-speakers of Greek Macedonia 10,000-250,000 Macedonia Bulgarian Pomaks 35,000 Thrace Turkish Turks of Western Thrace 128,380[16] Thrace Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian Aromanians 40,000–200,000 Epirus, Thessaly, West Macedonia Romani Roma 40,000–160,000 mainly in Thrace Arvanitika Arvanites 30,000–140,000 Attica, southern Euboea, Boeotia, Peloponnese Education
Main article: Education in GreeceGreek education is free and compulsory for children between the ages of 5 and 15. English study is compulsory from third grade through high school. University education, including books, is also free, contingent upon the student's ability to meet stiff entrance requirements. A high percentage of the student population seeks higher education. More than 100,000 students are registered at Greek universities, and 15% of the population currently holds a university degree. Admission in a university is determined by state-administered exams, the candidate's grade-point average from high school, and his/her priority choices of major. About one in four candidates gains admission to Greek universities.
Greek law does not currently offer official recognition to the graduates of private universities that operate in the country, except for those that offer a degree valid in another European Union country, which is automatically recognized by reciprocity. As a result, a large and growing number of students are pursuing higher education abroad. The Greek Government decides through an evaluation procedure whether to recognize degrees from specific foreign universities as qualification for public sector hiring. Other students attend private, post-secondary educational institutions in Greece that are not recognized by the Greek Government. At the moment extensive public talk is made for the reform of the Constitution in order to recognize private higher education in Greece as equal with public and to place common regulations for both.
The number of Greek students studying at European institutions is increasing along with EU support for educational exchange. In addition, nearly 5,000 Greeks are studying in the United States, about half of whom are in graduate school. Greek per capita student representation in the US (one every 2,200) is among the highest in Europe.
Religion
Main article: Religion in GreeceAccording to the Greek constitution, Eastern Orthodox Christianity is recognized as the "prevailing religion" in Greece. During the centuries of Ottoman domination, besides its spiritual mandate, the Orthodox Church, based in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), also functioned as an official representative of the Christian population of the empire. The Church is often credited with the preservation of the Greek language, values, and national identity during Ottoman times. The Church was also an important rallying point in the war for independence, although this latter position is somewhat controversial as the official Church in Constantinople initially condemned the breakout of armed struggle against the Empire. The Church of Greece was established shortly after the formation of a Greek national state. Its authority to this day extends only to the areas included in the independent Greek state before the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913. There is a Muslim minority concentrated in Thrace and officially protected by the Treaty of Lausanne. Besides Pomaks (Muslim Bulgarian[3] speakers) and Roma, it consists mainly of ethnic Turks, who speak Turkish and receive instruction in Turkish at special government-funded schools. There are also a number of Jews in Greece, most of whom live in Thessaloniki. There are also some Greeks who adhere to a reconstruction of the ancient Greek religion.[17] A place of worship has been recognized as such by court.[18]
See also
- Demographic history of Greece
- Turks of Western Thrace
- Minorities in Greece
- Aging of Europe
- Albanians in Greece
References
- ^ "Total population". Eurostat. http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/refreshTableAction.do?tab=table&plugin=1&pcode=tps00001&language=en1. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
- ^ Statistics Estonia - Total Fertility Rate- Number of Children Per Woman
- ^ a b "Bulgarian". Ethnolugue - Bulgarian language. http://www.ethnologue.com/14/show_language.asp?code=BLG.
- ^ 2001 "Census data" (in Greek). Census (dead source). www.statistics.gr. 2001. http://www.statistics.gr/gr_tables/S1101_SAP_09_TB_DC_01_10_Y.pdf 2001. Retrieved 2009-01-07.
- ^ Mogens Herman Hansen, The Shotgun Method: The Demography of the Ancient Greek City-State Culture, University of Missouri Press, 2006. Book review
- ^ B.R. Mitchell. European historical statistics, 1750-1975.
- ^ http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dybsets/1948%20DYB.pdf United nations. Demographic Yearbook 1948
- ^ Hellenic Statistical Authority
- ^ [1.pdf "Πληθυσμός Ελληνικής και ξένης υπηκοότητας"] (in Greek). www.statistics.gr. http://www.statistics.gr/eng_tables/S1101_SAP_09_TB_DC_01_12_Y_[1].pdf. Retrieved 2008-08-27.[dead link]
- ^ [1.pdf "Foreign population by citizenship and sex - 1.1.1990"]. www.statistics.gr. http://www.statistics.gr/eng_tables/S200_SPO_2_TB_AN_90_1_Y[1].pdf. Retrieved 2008-08-27.[dead link]
- ^ [1.pdf "Υπολογιζόμενος πληθυσμός στο μέσο των ετών 1991-2006"] (in Greek). www.statistics.gr. http://www.statistics.gr/eng_tables/S201_SPO_5_TS_91_06_2_Y[1].pdf. Retrieved 2008-08-27.[dead link]
- ^ [1.pdf "Usually resident population by citizenship"]. www.statistics.gr. http://www.statistics.gr/eng_tables/S201_SPO_2_TB_AN_06_7_Y_EN[1].pdf. Retrieved 2008-08-27.[dead link]
- ^ www.eurfedling.org The main ethnic groups were Greeks 93.76%, Albanians 4.32%, Bulgarians 0.39%, Romanians 0.23%, Ukrainians 0.18%, Pakistani 0.14%, Russians 0.12%, Georgians 0.12%, Indians 0.09% and others 0.65%. [...] The Muslim minority in Thrace, which amounts to approximately 0.95% of the total population, consists of speakers of Turkish, Bulgarian (Pomak) and Romani.
- ^ Resarch Institute for Europeand and American Analysis, http://rieas.gr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=812&Itemid=89
- ^ Niki Kitsantonis, "Greece struggles to curb influx of illegal immigrants," "New York Times," October 4, 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/world/europe/04iht-migrate.4.7756077.html
- ^ a b "Languages of Greece". Ethnologue. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=GR. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
- ^ "Ancient Greek gods' new believers". BBC News. 2007-01-21. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6285397.stm. Retrieved 2008-08-24.
- ^ Smith, Helena (2006-05-05). "Greek gods prepare for comeback". London: Guardian.co.uk. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/may/05/greece. Retrieved 2008-08-24.
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History Greek countries and regions · Prehistory · Ancient Greece (Mycenaean period – Dark Age – Archaic period – Classical period – Hellenistic period – Roman period) · Byzantine era · Latin states · Ottoman period · War of Independence · Modern GreeceLaw Politics and
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